Social norms are being invented about what, how frequently, and with whom we share even the smallest details of our lives. This, in turn, is having a tremendous impact on our sociology—including our expectations, behavior, and relationships, both with one another and with organizations and brands. The pace at which social networking sites are growing and the fact that one in three American adults uses Facebook mean that these changes are rippling through society in profound ways that will only become more pronounced in the years ahead. This chapter explores how online identity and sharing have changed as a result of online social networks, explains the new etiquette and expectations about these sites, and introduces an important new concept of transitive trust in purchase decisions. Identity, Sharing, and Influence on the Social Web At the root of this sociological transformation is the social network profile such as your Facebook profile , which has become the universal template for online identity and sharing. For most people, being on a social networking site today means sharing more about themselves than they ever have before or ever thought they would through their profiles and status updates. Perhaps because Facebook, in particular, feels like a secure and trusted environment, we are sharing in some cases with people we barely know everything from our age, political views, job title, employment history, and academic pedigree to hobbies, interests, favorite books and movies, relationship status, and sexual orientation see Figure 2. Even the profile picture with which we choose to portray ourselves says a lot about how we view ourselves and would like others to view us.
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